


At Least I Have You

by amity_blight_simp



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: #218, 218, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempt 218, Bisexual Character, Bisexual Eleanor Shellstrop, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay, Hurt/Comfort, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian Tahani Al-Jamil, Romance, Slow Burn, eleanor is a bi disaster, eleanor shellstrop is bisexual, if youre reading tags hi, they should've been soulmates, theyre gay okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:35:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27094417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amity_blight_simp/pseuds/amity_blight_simp
Summary: Against her side, the Arizonian shifted, and Tahani held her breath, hoping that her thinking hadn’t somehow woken Eleanor up, but the blonde simply tightened her grip on Tahani’s waist and snuggled closer. Tahani felt her face grow warm, and she turned her head back to look out the window.
Relationships: Chidi Anagonye & Eleanor Shellstrop, Chidi Anagonye & Jianyu Li | Jason Mendoza, Janet & Michael (The Good Place), Janet (The Good Place) & Jianyu Li | Jason Mendoza, Jianyu Li | Jason Mendoza & Eleanor Shellstrop, Tahani Al-Jamil & Chidi Anagonye, Tahani Al-Jamil & Chidi Anagonye & Jianyu Li | Jason Mendoza & Eleanor Shellstrop, Tahani Al-Jamil & Eleanor Shellstrop, Tahani Al-Jamil/Eleanor Shellstrop
Kudos: 40





	1. Escape

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE READ:  
> AU where:  
> -Jason realizes he has feelings for Janet (again just in this reboot) and breaks up with Tahani.  
> -Tahani and Jason never had the idea to get married bc that was just too complicated to write in.  
> -Eleanor agrees that they shouldn’t trust Michael and they go to the Medium Place (Season 2 episode 8).  
> -I don’t like Derek, so I just wrote that they managed to get the cuffs off Janet themselves :P
> 
> I know it's kinda short, but I think this is just gonna be a oneshot type thing

Eleanor looked around at the group, silent as the others argued. “If we could get the cuffs off of Janet,” Tahani was saying, “We could get her to call a train and take us to Mindy St. Claire’s. That’s what I vote we should do.” Eleanor bit her lip, glancing over at the table where Michael and her had talked the other day. He had seemed so sincere- talking about ethics, and the whole Derek situation. But at the same time, throughout all the reboots, they had trusted him-even if she couldn’t remember that- they had gone through over 800 different versions of this because they trusted him. He did this to tortue them. Eleanor’s mind was fighting itself, playing a game of tug of war between the two sides, when she was interrupted by Chidi’s voice. “Eleanor, what do you think? Trade information on Michael or try to escape to the Medium Place?” She looked up, hesitating. Looking around at her friends, the people she cared about, and thought about the logistics. Taking a leap of faith could end up horribly. If Michael truly had deviated right back to the bad side, they would be going to the Bad Place regardless. At least with Tahani’s plan, they would have a chance to be safe at Mindy’s… She sighed, running her hands through her hair. “Let’s try to get those cuffs off of Janet,” she said, looking at Tahani, who smiled a weak smile. “Three votes for my plan, then,” she said, but she still sounded nervous. Eleanor smiled back at her, hoping it looked convincing. “I think it’s a good plan, Tahani,” she said, though her head was running through all of the ways the plan could go south. “Janet?” “Hi there,” Janet said with a slur in her voice, popping into the room and looking around drunkenly at all of them. The group groaned, but after a few minutes of fiddling, Jason, of all people, popped the cuffs off of Janet. “There you go, girl!” He said, grinning. Janet rubbed her wrists, smiling. “Not a girl.” Tahani, ignoring the quip, put her hands on the AI’s shoulders. “Janet, can you get us a train to Mindy St. Claire's?” She asked, her voice laced with urgency. “It’s on it’s way!” She responded cheerfully. “Okay, everyone,” Eleanor spoke up, stepping forward. “We probably have about 15 minutes. Everyone go pack a small bag, and then meet at the train station. We should go separately, so no one suspects anything,” she finished, looking around at the faces staring back at her.  _ I really hope this works, _ she thought to herself. She couldn’t help taking a quick glance at the tall woman to her left. She was biting her lip, obviously thinking hard, and Eleanor felt a twinge of guilt. She knew that the two didn’t always get along, but they had managed to become fairly good friends, and Eleanor worried for the future. What if they got caught? What would happen to them? She shook the thought out of her head and sighed. “Be safe everyone,” she said, turning to go pack her bag. 

Eleanor approached the train station, her small bag tucked carefully under her shoulder, hoping that no one would suspect her. But as she approached and saw the group huddled in the office, she felt her nerves spiking for another reason. There were only 3 figures in the room. “Where’s Tahani?” She asked, her stomach crawling up her throat. “I assumed she was with you,” Chidi said, his face scrunching up. “I’m getting a stomach ache,” he muttered, sitting down shakily on the nearest chair. “Jason? Janet?” Eleanor turned to the pair, and saw that their hands were intertwined and they were looking at each other dreamily. Confused, her brain struggled to put together the pieces.  _ Were Jason and Janet a thing? But Tahani was with...oh fork.  _ “Jason!” She snapped, grabbing his shoulders. His expression changed to a dopey, confused look, his mouth partly open. “What’s up, homie?” “Did you break up with Tahani?” He thought for a second, and then grinned idiotically. “Oh yeah, I realized I was totally in love with Janet! She’s my girl,” he said, turning back to her. “Not a girl,” Janet replied, smiling back at him. “Dude! What the fork? Now I have to go find her,” Eleanor retaliated, biting her nails. “Janet, how much time until the train gets here?” “About 5 minutes,” Janet said, still looking at Jason. “Okay. This is fine. Chidi,” She said, turning towards the freaked out philosopher, “please buy me some time.” He nodded, and with that, Eleanor ran out of the station to find her friend. 

Tahani Al-Jamil was not the type to cry over a breakup. Usually, she didn’t feel much at all when guys would leave her- in fact, most of the time, she would be happy about it. Dating was always so strenuous, and a lot of times, guys would simply talk to her to get to know her sister. But Jason- Jason had allowed her to be herself, to be dorky and open and relaxed. He wasn’t too attractive- and sometimes Tahani questioned if she even had romantic feelings towards him at all- but he was kind, and while he lacked intelligence, he made up for it with his big heart. Except for when his lack of intelligence caused him to just tell Tahani that “he totally had feelings for Janet, homie,” and that they could “still totally be pals, that would be dope.” Maybe she belonged in the Bad Place after all. She just wanted somebody to like her for  _ her _ , and let her be herself, but also someone who didn’t have the mental capacity of a  _ peanut _ . In spite of everything, she felt herself chuckle. He really wasn’t the brightest. “Tahani?” A soft voice brought her out of her thoughts, and she glanced up to see Eleanor standing in the doorway tentatively, a worried look on her face. She quickly wiped her eyes, suddenly embarrassed to have been caught crying, and sat up straighter. “Oh, Eleanor! I was just about to come to the station,” she said, trying to convey cheerfulness into her voice. However, the look on Eleanor’s face revealed it didn’t work, however Tahani wasn’t surprised. She hadn’t convinced herself either. Eleanor walked over to her and sat down on the couch with her, seeming to hesitate before putting her arm around Tahani’s waist, and putting her head on the taller girl’s shoulder. The two stayed silent for what seemed like eternity, and Tahani leaned into the sideways embrace, trying to ignore the coldness in the room and instead focus on the warmth of Eleanor’s arm around her. After a few minutes, Eleanor broke the silence. But instead of asking what happened, she just stood up. “Let’s get you onto that train, hot stuff,” she said quietly, and after Tahani got shakily to her feet next to her, the two left to meet the others. 

After an hour on the train, Eleanor Shellstrop had fallen asleep on Tahani’s shoulder. When they had boarded the train, Eleanor had once again put an arm around Tahani’s waist, and Tahani had followed suit, wrapping an arm around the shorter girl’s shoulders, leaving her holding Eleanor in the crook of her right arm as she slept. Tahani’s hand absent-mindedly played with Eleanor’s straw blonde hair, staring out the window to her left. Her mind raced with questions.  _ What would happen when they got to the Medium Place? Would Mindy even let them stay? Would Michael and the rest of the demons find them? Was this even a good idea?  _ It was her idea after all, and Tahani worried that it would go wrong, the whole group suffering for what she had suggested. Quite honestly, she was surprised that Eleanor had gone along with it. Jason couldn’t have had any better ideas, and Chidi would just do whatever the majority of them wanted to do. But Eleanor had agreed with her, hesitant at first, but then confidently. And she had said that she thought it was a good plan. Tahani wasn’t so sure about that anymore. Against her side, the Arizonian shifted, and Tahani held her breath, hoping that her thinking hadn’t somehow woken Eleanor up, but the blonde simply tightened her grip on Tahani’s waist and snuggled closer. Tahani felt her face grow warm, and she turned her head back to look out the window. She was really glad that her and Eleanor had become friends. 

_ Friends. _


	2. The Medium Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so, when she was staring at the wall opposite from her in the darkness, and she heard sniffling behind her, she turned around to face the girl silently crying beside her.

As the sun began to set, the Trans-Eternal Railway train slowly creaked to a stop in the middle of the fields of the Medium Place. Tahani really didn’t want to wake up Eleanor, but as the others began to depart the train, she sighed. Placing her arm on Eleanor’s, she slowly shook it. “Eleanor,” Tahani whispered, trying not to startle her. “Hmm?” The shorter girl mumbled drowsily, blinking away the sleep in her eyes and looking around. “Where..” she yawned. “Where are we?” “We’re at the Medium Place, Eleanor,” Tahani said, trying to ignore that Eleanor hadn’t moved her arm from where it lay around her waist. Wait, but why was that something she was thinking about in the first place? Tahani quickly stood, then cursed herself for how anxiously she had done it. “We should get off the train,” she said, trying to regain her composure. For a second, she could’ve sworn Eleanor looked slightly upset, but even if she had, the look quickly vanished. “Okay,” the Arizonian replied, yawning again. “Lead the way, hot stuff.” Chuckling, Tahani gestured for Eleanor to go ahead of her, then hesitated. Getting off the train meant cementing this plan into place. Janet didn’t have her powers anymore, so if they were here.. It was either stay or go back to the “Good” Place. And the latter wasn’t really an option. But as she looked out the window, seeing the frantic blonde waving at her, she felt the corners of her mouth turn upwards, and hoped that Eleanor was right. She hoped that this had been a good plan.

After having a wonderful and _super polite_ conversation with Mindy, the 4 decided to head to sleep for the night. Mindy reluctantly had offered the second bedroom she had (she had 2 bedrooms, but could never convert the other into a more useful room- another mediocre thing) to them, and Eleanor and Tahani took it, because Jason and Chidi had volunteered to take the couches in the living room. Stupid Chidi and his ethics, Eleanor thought to herself, irrationally nervous to spend the night with Tahani. It was fine, she just had to share the bed with a sexy, tan, curvy skyscraper. But said skyscraper was her friend, right? They’d be fine. Just chatting, hanging out, and then going to bed. I shouldn’t be this worked up. It’s just Tahani. Biting her nails, Eleanor finally picked out a particularly plain looking set of pajamas from Mindy’s closet and headed into the bathroom to change. Staring at herself in the mirror, her mind drifted from the topic of the older Al-Jamil, and she couldn’t help but think of all the ways something could go wrong with staying at the Medium Place. What if Michael had wanted them to take a leap of faith, like what’s his name said? What if they got caught? Surely they would suffer even more now that they had run away. But she thought of Tahani again, and how nervous she must be. This was her plan after all, the rest of them had just agreed to it. If something went wrong, it would probably hit her the hardest. And so, the blonde left the bathroom dressed in tan pajamas, determined to support Tahani Al-Jamil the best she could. No matter what happened. And so, when she was staring at the wall opposite from her in the darkness, and she heard sniffling behind her, she turned around to face the girl silently crying beside her. “Tahani?” She whispered, placing a hand on the tan girl’s shoulder. Instead of feigning happiness, like earlier that day, Tahani just began to sob, and for a moment, Eleanor panicked. What was she supposed to do?? She opened her mouth to speak, but, deciding against it, she simply scooted closer to Tahani and wrapped her arms around the taller girl’s waist, resting her head against the soft, shaking shoulder next to her. Tahani stopped for a minute, her sobs quieting again, but still shook, teardrops sliding down her face. After a few minutes, Eleanor could feel Tahani’s breaths slow, and her shaky arms slowly wrapped around the Arazonian’s body, tentatively pulling her closer. The blonde accepted the unspoken request, snuggling into Tahani’s side, and the two simply laid there, the only sound their soft breaths mixing together in the air. “I…” Tahani whispered, breaking the silence. “Thank you,” she murmured, tightening her grip around Eleanor. “You don’t need to thank me, gorgeous,” the shorter girl replied, chuckling softly. A few more minutes passed, and Tahani broke the silence again. “If something goes wrong, it’d be all my fault. I convinced everyone to come here,” she said shakily. I knew she would blame herself. Eleanor propped herself up on one elbow to make eye contact between the two. “It wouldn’t be your fault. It would be all of our faults, if anything,” she said softly. “We chose to follow your plan.” She paused for a moment, then continued. “I chose to follow your plan, Tahani.” A tear slid down Tahani’s face, and before Eleanor could think it through, she reached out with her free arm and used her thumb to wipe it away. And for a moment, she allowed her hand to linger there, against Tahani’s smooth skin, almost as if to protect it from any more tears that might fall. It could’ve been seconds, minutes, hours- but finally, Eleanor acknowledged the burning in her elbow from holding her up, and she laid back down, again wrapping herself in Tahani’s embrace. And she let her whisper illuminate the darkness, a promise, a wish, not just for Tahani, but for both of them. “It’s going to be okay.” Tahani woke with a short blonde girl wrapped around her, their limbs tangled together, sunlight streaming through the windows. For the Medium Place, at least they have one extraordinary thing, she thought silently to herself, looking at the girl in her arms.


End file.
